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‘All that glisters is not gold’

That famous quotation, taken from the words of William Shakespeare (and none other!!), reminds us of the illusion presented as fact.

Over on ATW, we have advised more than once that the Arab Spring is no more a change in appearance for the peoples of those lands.

We here in Europe, along with America, part of the old Empire, now known as the Commonwealth and various other nations who have ‘seen the light’, have at least a semblance of Democracy. It has taken a long time to achieve this tenuous balance, with many mis-steps, side-steps and falls along the way. We see India, the worlds’ second most populous nation, changing governments without much tension or blood, due to the fact that the Nation has spoken in a ballot! We here in Britain gave them that, and it is a proud claim. Their laws are based largely on their inheritance from the old Raj, the British Empire. Many nations have tottered after independence, some have fallen under dictatorship, but many more survive.

Turn to America, that ‘shining light in the West’, and we see Democracy writ large. That nation grew from an intolerance of greed and stupidity laid heavily on it by the rulers of England, who saw it as a cash cow which would never speak back. By the actions of brave men, and by the thoughts and deductions of a Continental Congress which gave them a Constitution which certainly I envy, that young nation twice became the saviour of a tired Europe and an oppressed East.

Our victories have sometimes been imperfect, we still see evil perpetuated in high places; but we get by.

And that is what I argue has given us the ability to govern ourselves without resort to bullets and bombs. This is also is what has been lacking from countries with Muslim-majority Arab populations, they have no memory of democracy, they have no basis. no ‘folk memory’, no instinct to state without fear, “You cannot do that!”. So when the Egyptian revolt took place, who slid in to keep their own power and methods? The Military; closely followed by the Muslim Brotherhood of course, because they know what is right for Egypt, and no one else will be allowed a say! When Bahrain rumbled and writhed in protest, the royal family imported the ‘heavy weapons’ from Saudi Arabia, and crushed them before they has a chance.